20 Minutes
by hipstererin
Summary: What if you lived in a world where infants were born with a countdown to the moment they would meet their true love? Bella's ticker is running low on time, and she's scared, curious, and excited to see who her one and only is. One-shot.


A/N: Hi! This is my first story, and I'm really excited to post it c: I hope you guys enjoy it! Please leave feedback, and hopefully I'll be publishing more stories soon! :D

Summary: Bella lives in a world where infants are born with tickers in their arms, counting down until they will meet their true love. Bella's day has finally come, and she's now just minutes away from meeting the man who is supposedly her one and only.

For inspiration picture, go to my profile and click on the link :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters created by Stephanie Meyer.

* * *

_Twenty minutes._

I tapped my foot impatiently against the sidewalk, becoming more impatient by the second. I knew he'd be at the cafe any minute. Well, twenty.

Suddenly a million questions ran through my mind. Some were new, some were old. Each bothered me just the same, though, despite their age. Who will he be? What will he look like? How will he dress? Has he gone to school? Will his parents like me? Will my parents like him?

Many more littered my thoughts, but my biggest question was this: What if my ticker was wrong?

The little countdown in my wrist, somehow knowing just when the love of my life would arrive, counted down: 0 days 0 hours 18 minutes 39 seconds.

Could I wait those 18 minutes?

_Calm down, Bella,_ I told myself.

The speed of my tapping grew faster and faster. It had to be right. It was always right.

If only it could tell me a little more.

I knew that somehow it would work out, no matter where we were. There were always stories of that: someone that made a last second decision to head the other way on a street, ignoring the call with the number they didn't know, not believing it could really be _that _person...

But the all worked out, somehow. The other person would be running late on a subway, or they would leave a message on the answering machine, or just taking a chance.

So mine would have to, too.

_Sixteen minutes eighteen seconds._

But what if it was one of those few times when the 'love of your life' became a monster? What would happen if he was abusive? If he was easily upset? What if my father hated him?

What if Charlie shot him?

I started to hyperventilate. He'd threatened my high school boyfriends, would he actually hold true to the threat?

_Calm. Down, _I thought.

A waiter came by, stopping at my table. He smiled brightly.

"My name is Phillip, what can I do for you today?" I felt as if it were a loaded question.

"If you could get me a coffee with cream, that'd be great," I said simply.

"Anything else?" he persisted. I sighed.

"No, thanks," I replied rather curtly. Phillip's feelings didn't seem to be hurt too much by my tone though. His ego wasn't wounded, either.

"Well, if you need anything," he said, pulling out a pen and a napkin, "if you need anything, here's my number and I will be right over, miss...?" I laughed. His smile faltered.

I showed him my ticker. His smile faded entirely now. Silently, he lifted his ticker to me: _0 days 0 hours 3 minutes 27 seconds _it read. He was looking for his one and only. I smiled a sad smile. "She'll be here any moment," I assured him. "And she'll be better than me. Promise." He mumbled something like _I doubt it_ under his breath and walked away. I wish I could have given him more hope than that, but our countdowns were different. I wasn't his, and he wasn't mine.

I sighed again, glancing down again at my ticker. _0 days 0 hours 13 minutes 41 seconds_. Time passed much slower now that I had a reason for it to speed up.

When my thoughts drifted this time, I tried to focus on the good that could come of this. What if he's a super star, an actor extroidinaire? What if he was the sweetest man I ever met? Would we go through a courting process or would we decide to wed right away? What does he think about children? Where does he want to live?

My curiosity got the best of me, and my thoughts drifted to when I was young, seeing my older sister find her one and only. She didn't believe in the tickers. She figured they must be some way to get us to get married sooner. I tried arguing with her time and time again, but she was stubborn, just like me.

Despite her lack of faith in the tickers, even she became curious as the time on hers dwindled down to days. She couldn't help but wonder, just like everyone else. Ultimately though, she tried to ignore it.

We knew the tickers had to work though, when the doubtful found her match at the exact second her ticker flicked to zero. He walked down the pathway to our house and took her hand and simply said she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and that when his ticker expired the second he saw her, he had never felt luckier.

I hoped for something like that.

Phillip came back with my water then, setting it gently in front of me, smiling wistfully. I smiled in return. He pointed to the girl across the patio with short red hair and blue eyes. They would be perfect together.

Of course they would.

"Congratulations," I told him. "What did I tell you?"

He laughed leaning down for a hug. "Thanks. Don't get me wrong, you're great and all, but..." He smiled the smile of a man deeply in love, even though he'd just met the right girl. "She's gonna be perfect," he finished.

"Go to her," I said simply, and he did.

Watching them interact was something beautiful, the beautiful dance of awkward first love. They were both young, they couldn't have been older than 17, but it gave them time to truly know each other.

I was glad they'd found each other before one of them could become bitter. Some people have long countdowns, countdowns that don't end until that person is nearly 40, and on rare occasions, older. Some people who have longer countdowns become bitter and fearful of when they find their one and only.

I was happy I wouldn't be worrying about that, at least.

_0 days 0 hours 8 minutes 27 seconds_.

Time was running out.

I glanced around, wondering which of these men it could be. I saw the guy in the striped shirt several tables away. He didn't seem so bad. I guessed he was pretty friendly, but something about him reminded me of Mike Newton, and I immediately began hoping that it wasn't him. Then I saw the man at the table next to me, engrossed in his book. We could get along well. I smiled at the thought of sitting in front of a fire place, each of us reading a book, just being together. But then his waiter showed up, and he erupted, screaming expletives at the waiter for interrupting his story.

It couldn't be him.

_0 days 0 hours 5 minutes 32 seconds._

It was so close. I ached to know who he was.

I hoped I would feel comfortable around him quickly, that my shy personality wouldn't put him off. Surely, if he's _really_ my one true love, we'll get along. But then you hear about all the bad happenings. They may be rare, but it's a fear everyone has.

I crossed my fingers under the table.

Part of me wished it could just be Jacob, but his ticker still had nearly a year left. We tried dating in high school, hoping maybe the tickers would change once we shared our first kiss.

They didn't.

We stayed best friends, but it would have been so much easier if it were Jake that I was meant to be with. I knew him. I trusted him.

_But I can have trust in others_, I reminded myself. _It just takes a bit of time._

My foot tapping, which had ceased for several minutes, began again, going faster than it had previously. I was so close to meeting the man I would marry, the man I would live with forever.

_0 days 0 hours 3 minutes 0 seconds._

I was so close.

Phillip came back yet again, an even bigger smile on his face than before.

"She likes all my favorite video games and her favorite place in the world is Bartie's Ice Cream Parlor, just like me. Her name is Elizabeth." He was beaming.

"She sounds amazing," I told him, smiling.

"How much time you got left?"

I showed him my ticker. He smiled bigger at me.

"It'll be great, I promise. The second you see him, you'll know. And it won't be just because of the ticker beeping. Something inside you will just...click into place."

"Quite knowledgable for a kid who just fell in love ten minutes ago," I joked. He smiled wider. "I'll come back someday soon, and we can swap stories on how everything is going. 'Kay?"

"'Kay." He glanced back at Elizabeth.

"Just go," I said, laughing. Once he was gone, I looked down at my ticker.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 13 seconds._

My heart race sped.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 12 seconds._

I tried focusing on my water.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 11 seconds._

It didn't work.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 10 seconds._

I tried again, pulling in a long gulp.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 09 seconds._

I calmed down.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 08 seconds._

Just a bit.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 07 seconds._

So close.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 06 seconds._

He had to be here by now.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 05 seconds._

I looked around, spying a bronze haired man from across the patio.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 04 seconds._

He was laughing. It made me happy to see.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 03 seconds._

He was turning this way.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 02 seconds._

Looking my way.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 01 seconds._

Catching my eye.

_0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 00 seconds._

And smiling.

_Beep beep beep_.

We walk to each other.

"Did your..." I hold up my wrist, my ticker flashing zeros.

He smiles a breath taking crooked smile and holds up his own wrist.

Flashing zeros.

I smile.

"Nice you finally meet you," he says in a velvety voice. "I'm Edward Cullen. And who I am I so lucky to be able to have as my one true love?" His question makes my heart skip a beat. Butterflies erupt in my stomach.

"I'm Bella Swan. And I'm so pleased to finally meet you, oh love of mine."

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So? What do you think...? :) Thank you for reading! :D


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